Re: [i3detroit-public] Teaching Classes

[Roger S]

I'm working on a class policy.  We've had many classes in the past. The Groupon idea sounds interesting.

On Oct 24, 2012 9:38 AM, "sp...@thewynngroup.net" <sp...@thewynngroup.net> wrote:

I saw the post for the laser cutter which talked about teaching classes and a lightbulb went off.

I am a newbie so if any of the ideas herein violate unwritten (or written) rules please just post.  I'll know better next time.

If we want to enlarge the membership base why don't we do the following:


Many crafts require both training and a piece of large equipment.  We have many people who are masters, or at least journeymen at a craft which i3 has equipment for.

Why not teach a public class at i3 for that craft, maybe 4 hours for 6 people?   We set the class fee at $75 (all going to the treasury) and then....wait for it....

GROUPON the class for $10.


Each student will then get training in a craft that takes a large piece of equipment that i3 has, thus making them prime candidates for membership.


We get GROUPON to do our advertising for us.
We get our prospective customers to pay us to get hooked on i3.


I am not a master in any craft, but if anyone is, get back to me and I will handle all the Marketing (of which I am a retired sensei).

Any takers?

Welding?
Robotics?
Woodworking?
Metalworking?
Bike Repair?

Others?

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[Nathaniel Bezanson]

On Oct 24, 8:55 am, "sp...@thewynngroup.net" <sp...@thewynngroup.net>
wrote:

> If we want to enlarge the membership base why don't we do the following:

That's an interesting assumption to start from. ;)

> people?   We set the class fee at $75 (all going to the treasury) and
> then....wait for it....
>
> GROUPON the class for $10.

I'd say $20, but yeah, I'm with ya on the idea. Where does Groupon
take their cut, anyway?

One catch, though: Is Groupon suitable for a six-seat class? Even if
we run it every Saturday for two months, that's a massive time
commitment and still only 48 slots. I figured their model was targeted
at kilocustomer-scale endeavors, but maybe I misunderstand. And yeah,
there's no way I'm comfortable teaching laserism to a larger group,
unless they don't even get to touch the machine itself! I'm pretty
sure that goes for other possible classes too, most anything we could
teach is best with very very small class sizes. How do we make the
most of that hands-on approach?

> We get our prospective customers to pay us to get hooked on i3.

Yes and no. Students in a pay class may be customers, indeed. (They
may also be donors, but that's another story entirely!)

But step back for a moment and consider that *members* are customer-
like only in the respect that we pay money to be here. In every other
way (responsibility, time commitment, interpersonal dynamics), members
are somewhere between employees, managers, and owners. The very last
impression I'd ever want to create would be the notion that there's
always an instructor nearby, paid to answer questions. We may get
students hooked on the notion of the space and the tools, but the
group responsibility dynamic is much more important, and nearly
impossible to convey in a class-like setting. I'm not sure how to
transition someone from a student-customer into a member-owner.

(There's some back-story to my rant: I've observed in the recent past,
in precisely those terms, that a lot of new members seem to think of
themselves as customers, and refer to the group as "you" rather than
"we", among other things. They don't get much out of their membership,
and don't stick around long. This precipitated some major changes in
the orientation process, and I think it's helping a lot, but the new
orientation still isn't standard across the board, nor is it proven
with a useful sample size yet. Personally I'm a little sensitive about
the whole thing, so don't take this as me jumping on your idea, merely
pointing out a potential quirk.)

Back to that initial assumption. Growing the membership base is a fine
idea, but how do we do that while making sure prospective members
realize the full potential of the group, as both an equipment resource
and a social undertaking? If that balance can be struck, I'm behind
you all the way. Mo' people = mo' cool projects!

-Nathaniel-

[sp...@thewynngroup.net]

I goofed and put this in the public group. 

This is an internal matter.  can a GoogleMaster move this thread?

[Joseph C. Bender]

On 10/25/2012 00:41, sp...@thewynngroup.net wrote:
> I goofed and put this in the public group.
>
> This is an internal matter. can a GoogleMaster move this thread?
>

Start a new thread on the members list.


--
Joseph C. Bender
jcbender at bendorius dot com

[Greg Smith]

Sound nice but do we want to be a techshop money money money?

Greg Smith

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[Nathan Warnick]

As a non profit we are allotted a certain percentage that we are allowed to collect on sales, donations, dues.  I don't know what ratios these have to be just have to keep in check with following our goals. The general goal with the groupon is obviously to advertise.  Possible options for the groupon, $15 off your first month as a voting member, $10 off the non voting membership. 

Having the ability to pay an instructor lets us offer better classes/workshops on tools/projects.  Members and guest instructors generally only charge a material fee when required, for example welding, power and welding wire costs.  

Maintenance of our larger tools are done by members, or repairs paid for out of pocket by members. 

Donations are accepted with great appreciation!  Also tax deductible due to our 501c(3)

[sp...@thewynngroup.net]

I have started a couple of threads internally.